A Rush of Blood to the Head
by Silent Dagger
Summary: Light, Matsuda, Misa, Matt, Mello and Near all attend the same high school. Light is the top student, he's comfortable in his spot though incredibly bored until a transfer student with a dark secret shows up to turn his world upside down.LightxL,MattxMell
1. Rivalry Born

**Silent Dagger: Ok, this is way outside what I would normally do for a DN fic, but I just had the urge to write this so I'm going to see how it goes. COMPLETELY AU from the manga/anime, everyone is in High School, yep, all your favorite characters: Light, L, Misa, Mello, Near, Matt, B, Matsuda, and the rest of the cast are in this story. Ages have been altered for the sake of the story, as have some of the ties of the characters.**

**Summary: Light Yagami is the most brilliant student at the high school, until a transfer students comes in and proves to be his match in almost everything. An intense rivalry is born between the two as their loathing for one another creates an inseparable bond.**

**Rated: M – for violence, language, sexual content, abuse, bullying and adult themes**

**Chapter One: Rivalry Born**

Light Yagami was the top student at the Kanto Regional High School and he looked the part too. His auburn hair was always combed to perfection, his silky bangs swept across his forehead and his amber eyes always alert and focused. It seemed the school uniform was made to fit him. The beige pants and jacket over the plain white button down with red tie did not look tacky on him as it did most of the other boys. It just gave him a refined look and most people could not ever picture him wearing anything different. Light Yagami in something so casual as jeans and a tee shirt? It just wasn't heard of. He was a Junior now, though everyone agreed that he was probably smart enough to simply jump right into the college level, Light, however, was in no rush and remained with the school.

He yawned slightly as he woke up that morning. Another Monday, definitely not his favorite day of the week. He followed his daily morning routine, showering, dressing, eating, then gathering his school supplies and throwing them into his backpack. He slung one strap over his shoulder and then headed out the door, saying a quick good bye to his parents who were still eating breakfast. Light wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. Soichiro Yagami was the Chief of the Japanese Police, a highly respected officer that Light looked up to immensely.

"Liiiight! Have a good day at school!" he heard a voice shout as soon as he stepped outside.

Light peered up at the second story window that opened to his little sister, Sayu's room and saw her standing there with a big grin on her face as she waved to him. Light smiled in return and waved back. "Thanks, Sayu, see you tonight."

The train station wasn't too far from his house, he didn't mind walking as it only took his about two minutes. He sighed inwardly as he walked. Today would be much the same as Friday, and the day before that and the day before that. Light would sit in class, everyone else would be raptly paying attention so they wouldn't be left behind, but Light already knew what the teachers were talking about. The teacher would ask a question, no one would be able to answer it and Light would stand up and give the answer. Simple as that. There was no reason to even hope for something new to happen during the day.

And in between classes? He would sit down to lunch with Misa, Matsuda, Mihael and Mail. Light hated Mihael, or as his friends called him Mello (where he got such a nickname Light wasn't even going to bother finding out) but he did not mind Mail, who went by Matt (and Light couldn't blame that because his real name was so weird), however, if he was going to sit with Matt he had to deal with Mello because the two of them were best friends. Mello's insufferable complaints about Nate River, however, drove Light to irritation faster than Misa's continual efforts to try and start a relationship.

Light didn't like Nate either. He was called Near by everyone because he was short so Mello thought it would be a good idea to call him Near since he was so close to the ground. Light thought the name was in bad taste simply because it was so bland and entirely not clever that it wasn't worth the effort trying to hassle Nate with it. Not that he could be hassled. The American transfer student who had come in a year ago, and who was a year younger than Light, didn't seem to be phased by anything. People made fun of him for being albino, but he never seemed to care, all he did was sit by himself and stack complicated towers with dice. He was right behind Light when it came to intelligence and if he hadn't been so socially awkward, Light might have actually tried to talk to him.

Yes, the days had become so predictable that Light hardly felt the need to even go to school anymore. He sighed as the train pulled in and he stepped on board, sitting down and taking out a notebook with his homework in it, checking it for mistakes he knew he hadn't made.

"Light!"

He looked up and saw Misa coming over to him with a big smile on her face. Misa was beautiful, there was no doubt about it, in fact, Light would even go so far as to say she was the best looking girl in the school. Her blond hair was held up in pig tails, though the back was hanging loosely about her shoulders. Her large brown eyes were sparkling with delight and her perfectly sculptured face had make up applied to it evenly, not too much to be gaudy and not too little to not be noticed. She was wearing the beige uniform, brown skirt falling to her knees, but that wasn't her style at all. Whenever Light hung out with her outside of school she was dressed in gothic and Lolita clothing. Miniskirts, chains, zippers, dark colors, these were the things Misa preferred.

"Hey, Misa, what are you doing on this train?" Light asked.

"Misa Misa's car broke down this morning," Misa sighed. She had a tendency to talk in the third person though Light had never discovered why. She probably thought it was cute, and it worked for most people. Matsuda was constantly drooling after her. "So, Misa got stuck taking the train and noticed you get on."

Light chuckled. Even if he didn't feel that he really fit into the school or with the other people of that school, he didn't mind the few people he spent time with. Misa's flirting drove him to the edge sometimes, but when she actually managed to control herself around him he didn't really mind her company all that much. "What are you going to do about your car?" he asked.

"Misa's father is going to bring it in to get checked," she replied.

"Well I wish your car luck then," Light said.

Misa giggled and stretched languidly. "Misa heard some gossip the other day," she said, eyes widening as she just realized this.

"Oh?" Light asked, not really interested.

"Yes, Matsu called her; Matsu told Misa that there was a transfer student coming in!" Misa exclaimed.

Light shrugged. "That's nice, Misa," he said. But it didn't matter to him. There had been talk when Near had been coming in as well and look where that got him. Although the younger boy was obviously very smart, he never participated in classes, he opted to sit in silence in the back of the room and the only reason anyone knew he was smart was his flawless test scores.

"You don't seem all that excited," Misa pouted, clearly thinking she had failed him in some way.

Light blinked and forced a smile. "No, no, I'm sure it will be something to talk about," he said _for about a day_ he thought to himself wearily. Misa perked up with what he said though and then started talking about she really thought she might want to become a model. Her mother, a famous agent for the modeling world, had already talked to some potential covers, so long as they kept her daughter from doing anything considered inappropriate. Several photographers had already said Misa had what it took to rise to the top. Light always wished her the best of luck with it. He'd rather her put her mind to better use, but Misa wasn't the brightest of girls, though she showed enormous cleverness on rare occasions that always tended to surprise him, but if she really wanted to do this he would support her as her friend should.

* * *

They got to the school about half an hour later and walked through the gates together. Kanto Regional High was a well to-do school. It was for wealthier kids, a private school, in other words. The grounds were large considering its location and the building itself was styled in the traditional Japanese style for the most part, with great swooping roofs though the inside it was completely modern.

"Blargh, Misa has gym first…Misa hates gym, it makes her make up run sometimes," Misa complained as they walked through the doors.

"Maybe you should wait until after your gym class to put on your make up on then?" Light suggested.

Misa stared at him for a moment. "You want Misa to walk around without make up?" she asked in horror.

Sensing a Misa tantrum, Light held up his hands defensively. "It was just a suggestion," he said.

Misa took a few deep breaths and nodded. "Okay, well, Misa should be off to change into her cute gym shorts," she said, fluttering her eyelashes at him. "Come find me later, ne?"

"Sure Misa," Light said, turning his back on her and heading towards his first class. He had history first. One of his classes that he literally felt was a waste of time. He already knew everything they were going over and the class was just so boring to him. Today they were going over European History. He was just going to make sure he didn't yawn at any point during the class.

He settled into his usual seat next to Matt and the redhead glanced up from the PSP he was hiding in his lap to grin at him. "Hey there, Light," he said. "Anything new?"

Light rolled his eyes. "Is there ever?" he asked.

Matt shrugged. "I got to a new level in my game," he offered.

"Congratulations."

"Thanks, I need to beat this boss before class starts though, so consider me no longer here for the time being," Matt said.

Light shrugged as Matt got focused on his game again. Honestly, the kid was more concerned about those than people. There were plenty of girls trying to catch Matt's eye. The redhead was good looking and his style definitely appealed to a lot of the girls here as when he was out of his uniform he wore a stripped white and black shirt, jeans, boots and a white vest, custom made. The goggles that were usually perched on his head were now hanging around his neck as he poked his tongue between his teeth, completely engrossed in whatever game he was playing.

The teacher walked in with his usual notes tucked under his arm and greeted them all with his usual opening that Light had learned to tune out of his mind now. He did notice it took him a bit longer to get started this time and that he was gesturing towards something in the back, but Light was too uninterested to care. He rested his chin on his hand, amber eyes staring ahead of him, almost looking dead as the teacher's voice filled the room in a dangerously slow monotone.

He heard when a question was asked and as usual the awkward silence of students pointedly looking anywhere but at the front of the room filled the room. Light sighed and was about to stand up to answer and end the ridiculous quiet, when a voice beat him to it. He had never heard this voice before. It was smooth, but it didn't seem to like speaking in front of all these people, but it was confident in the answer being given.

Light blinked and looked towards the back of the room and saw the strangest boy he had ever seen standing there answering the question with as much detail as Light would have given. The boy was awkward…very, very awkward. Whereas Light fit into the uniform, this guy seemed to repel it. His tie hung in a loose mess; it didn't even look like it was on right. His button down shirt wasn't tucked in all the way and hung in a wrinkled tail at the back. The pants were too baggy; the jacket was worn lopsided and also looked too big. But it was just ill fitting clothing that made him weird. Unless he was mistaken, the kid had slipped his shoes off and was standing on them instead of in them, his black hair spiked out and was a wild mess and his eyes were large round black orbs. Under them were dark lines that made him look as though he hadn't slept in months and his skin was so pale it was a wonder he wasn't shielding himself from the light of the classroom. And yet, despite his appearance, unless he had misheard him, this weirdo was giving even _more_ details than Light would have if he had answered the question. He felt floored.

"Wooo competition," Matt snickered under his breath as the freak sat down.

Light threw him an exasperated glare and Matt just chuckled. Light had every intention of stealing his PSP and throwing it out the window for that comment. Suddenly Light wished that he had been paying slightly more attention earlier so he could at least know what this freak's name was. He blinked when he realized those dark eyes were focused on his face now and that weirdo was tilting his head to the side, most likely curious as to why he was being stared at.

Light turned his face away and focused back on the teacher who was complimenting the answer he received. The rest of the class Light was just waiting for a chance to prove that he was still the smartest student in the school and when the teacher asked the next question, he stood quickly to his feet, ignoring Matt's quiet chuckles as he answered it perfectly. As he resumed his seat he chanced a glance at the new kid, but he was busy…eating sugar cubes? That was _disgusting_.

The bell rang; signaling the end of the class and Light couldn't be more relieved. He wondered whether he should talk to the freak, or avoid him at all costs. Matt was nudging him, saying all sorts of taunting remarks and Light gave him such a glare that Matt probably felt like Mello as he got those glares all the time. He laughed and shook his head. "Sorry, sorry," he said. "…Have fun," he added, glancing over to the side.

Light paused and hardly noticed Matt walk past because the odd ball was approaching him. He wasn't sure whether it was to talk though, because he was currently pulling at his tie with thumb and forefinger as if unsure of what it was around his neck. Light frowned and waited for him. He noticed that the other boy's shoes were untied. What a mess.

"Oy," Light said.

Apparently, the boy didn't think he was talking to him for he kept walking which led him to walk right into Light. Frowning at the collision Light took a step back from the weirdo, who blinked slowly and looked up. Light bet he was as tall as him, but he was slouched over so he had to tilt his head up to meet Light's gaze.

"Yagami should not stand in doorways."

His blunt tone was a shock to Light, almost as much as hearing him use his name. "How do you know my name?" he demanded.

"Hijime-san said it at the start of class when he introduced me to the class," the other student explained.

"Oh," Light said.

He began to walk away and Light couldn't believe this was happening. Everyone at this school sought to spend time with him. Girls wanted to be with him, boys wanted to be him, and both genders felt immensely lucky if he spared them even a minute for conversation. And yet here was this little freak walking away from him as if he were nothing. Light felt very annoyed, he was not used to being ignored.

"Hey, wait a minute," Light said.

The other stopped in his tracks and turned to look at him, wide eyes puzzled. Light strode over to him.

"So, are you always so bright or was that just a fluke?" he asked.

Those black eyes narrowed some. "I am always like that," he replied. "Does Yagami feel threatened?"

_Slightly_

"Of course not," Light scoffed. "I was just wondering if there was finally someone else in this school with intelligence…what's your name anyway? I'm afraid I didn't catch it."

"L."

Light stared at him for a moment. "What?" he asked.

"L, it is not that complicated, Yagami."

"You're name is L? Just L? No last name? No real first name?" Light demanded.

L sighed and shrugged his slender shoulders. "L is my real first name, my last name is Lawliet."

_L Lawliet? What kind of a name is that?_

Light frowned. "All right then, good to know," he said before walking past L and heading towards his next class which he had with Misa and Matsuda. He wondered if they had met L yet. He shook his head. Why was he thinking about that guy so much anyway? It didn't really matter now did it? So he was smart, Near was smart too and he hadn't given him much thought. He was weird, but that was more of a reason not to associate with him. No, Light knew why he couldn't drive the other from his mind. Because he had challenged him, and Light hated to lose so he was determined to beat L no matter what the competition was.

* * *

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Neither Matsuda nor Misa had had a class with the mysterious L and so Light was left to brood on the meeting alone. When lunch finally came about his took his customary seat with his usual group. Misa once again tried to steal Matt's goggles to see if they went with her style, but Matt, possessive of his items, refused her again and what proceeded was a long drawn out argument which ended with Misa pouting and Mello laughing at them both.

Light barely took notice of it and glanced around slightly to see where L was, but the new student was no where in the lunch room. He chanced a look at the table that Near inhabited solely, but it seemed that L wasn't attracted to other peculiar students and Near was once again by himself, setting up a house of cards. He sighed and continued eating his lunch and Matsuda seemed to sense his foul mood and looked at him.

Matsuda was another person Light couldn't really relate to. The dark haired male was slightly older than him, about a year or so, and had been held back in school. He wasn't stupid, he was just careless and lazy and had therefore not noticed that he was failing most of his classes last year. Bumbling and clueless, Matsuda was everything Light was not, but when it came to picking up emotions, he was pretty sharp.

"What's troubling you, Light?" he asked.

Tact was another thing he was lacking. He could have at least lowered his voice, but had neglected to do so. Now the others were looking at him, the silence only being broken by loud crunches as Mello consumed a chocolate bar.

"Nothing," Light lied.

"Thinking about your rival?" Matt asked slyly.

Light frowned at him and Mello leaned back in his chair. "Oh yeah, Matt was saying something about that earlier. Light Yagami was finally outshone today."

"Shut up, Mello," Light snapped, he had no patience for the blond. "I was not outshone at all, it's just that someone finally decided not to leave the entire class to me."

"Misa knows that Light is still number one!" Misa exclaimed, holding up one finger to emphasis her point. Light spared her a quick smile.

"Of course you do, you're in love with him," Mello muttered, earning a snort from Matt and a glare from Misa.

"I still want to meet this guy," Matsuda said. "See how smart he really is."

"I don't see why it matters that much," Light replied with a shrug. "It wasn't even that hard of a question, right Matt?"

"No, not really. I could have answered it, I just didn't feel like it," Matt agreed. "But it was like listening to you, Light, that guy knows what he's talking about. Definitely didn't just get the answer out of the book."

"Where is he anyway?" Mello interrupted, craning his neck to see the entire cafeteria. "Matt said he's as weird as that stupid albino in the corner."

Light sighed. "Honestly, do you all thrive off of gossip? He's just a new student, what's so weird about it?" he asked.

They all looked at him and he just shook his head. There was an awkward silence that was eventually broken by Matsuda. "Hey, that new movie came out; you know the one…that horror movie? We should all go see it," he suggested.

"Why? You'll just be scared shitless for the next few days," Mello smirked. "Remember after we went to see Saw? Matt asked if you wanted to play Mario and you thought he was going to hack you into little pieces."

Matsuda's face turned crimson. "So? I could handle this!"

Light was relieved that the subject had been changed and now they were all talking about horror movies and making plans to see this one. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. "Excuse me," he said, standing up and walking out of the cafeteria to take the call. It was his father. "Hello, father," he said politely.

"Hello, Light, sorry to say this, but I won't be home until late again, so let your mother and sister know, all right?" Soichiro asked.

"Yes, it's no problem, dad, we all know how busy you are with your job," Light assured him.

His father thanked him and hung up. Light put the phone back in his pocket and was preparing to go back into the cafeteria when he saw L coming inside. Students weren't really supposed to go outside during lunch, but apparently L was above the rules already. His arrogance was irritating, mainly because it matched his own, but Light was wise enough to at least follow the rules. He rolled his eyes and was about to ignore him until he saw the look on L's face. The other student looked distraught. Light cleared his throat to announce his presence.

L looked up and his expression immediately went back to its stoic mask. "Hello again, Yagami," he said simply.

Light was about to ask if everything was all right, but he felt that L didn't deserve that privilege. "You know you're not really supposed to just wander out of the school."

L shrugged. "I saw no problem with it," he said. "If you have one then I shall remember not let you catch me doing it."

Light took in a slow and even breath. "I don't really care what you do, Lawliet," he said. "I was just letting you know."

"Ah, thank you for the reminder of the rules I already know then, Yagami," L replied.

"What were you doing anyway?" Light asked, grinding his teeth together in order not to start shouting at this irritating student.

"I had a phone call," L replied.

Without another word he walked off, away from the cafeteria, but Light didn't care. He already knew that he really didn't like L Lawliet. He was rude and conceited and what was worse everything he said seemed to try and undermine Light. He shook his head and walked back into the cafeteria and to his table, though there was only about five more minutes for lunch in the first place.

"Is everything all right, Light?" Misa asked.

"Yeah, just my father letting me know he's going to be home late," Light replied.

"I bet your old man is having an affair," Mello grinned. "He always says he's going to be home late."

"Mello, unless you want to lose your teeth I suggest you don't say anything like that again," Light said, clearly not amused.

"Yagami-san is a highly respected man, he's to be admired, not slandered," Matsuda agreed.

Matsuda's dream was to become a police officer and he both respected and admired Light's father as an idol. He once admitted to Light that it was his father who had inspired him to pick this path.

"Hey, hey, look what's on the move," Mello said, probably to get the glares sent his way focused on something else. Everyone followed his gaze and saw Near making his way out of the cafeteria. "Watch this," he grinned mischievously. He took out a sling shot he'd made in his spare time and loaded it with a small piece of popcorn chicken. Light sighed at the childish antics about to take place, but Mello ignored him and took aim and fired.

The piece of chicken hit Near right between the eyes and he stopped in his tracks as laughter rang out in the room. His dark gaze landed on Mello and he narrowed his eyes slightly before continuing on his way.

"Wow, that little wimp won't ever fight back," Mello smirked.

"Maybe because he doesn't care," Light said waspishly.

Mello made a face at him and Misa promptly smacked him in the head. Mello rounded on her angrily and yet another argument broke out but thankfully the bell rang again and Light was glad to be leaving them behind for his next class. English was something he wasn't really interested so he zoned out for the most of it and passed on to his next and last class, math.

* * *

He was in this class with Near, Matsuda and Mello. Which meant that he would have to listen to Mello hissing things to Near and Matsuda telling him to lighten up. He went to sit in his seat, but saw it was being occupied by none other than L. The raven-haired boy was currently mulling over a sheet of paper in front of him that seemed to have very complicated math problems on them. Light sighed and sat in the seat next to him, but L didn't even look up at him. Light let his eyes gaze at the paper and realized that it was a practice exam for To-ou University and that so far, L had gotten ever single one right.

"Hey, you didn't eat the piece of chicken I sent your way, Near," Mello whispered.

In classic Nate River style, Near didn't even look at him, he was just sitting there twirling a strand of white hair between pale fingers.

"I was aiming for your mouth, guess your big forehead got in the way," Mello continued.

"Mello," Matsuda whimpered, clearly not comfortable that his friend was being so malicious towards another person.

Mello trained green eyes on Matsuda's face. "What do you want?" he snapped. "I wasn't even talking to you, Matsu."

"Your friends are rather irritating, Yagami."

Light blinked when he heard that voice and looked over at L, who was watching the scene between Mello, Near and Matsuda. "You don't have to tell me," Light sighed.

"I guess you just hang out with them for appearance's sake? So you are not like the one they call Near?" L asked.

Light frowned. "Why I hang out with them is none of your business, Lawliet."

"Just like the reasons why I am outside are none of yours," L said and Light swore he saw a bit of a smirk lift those pale lips.

So then, L hadn't been concerned about a fellow student being bullied, he just wanted to make sure Light never questioned what he was doing again. Light smirked and shook his head. "Whatever, Lawliet," he said. "Like I said, I don't really care what you do."

"So then you won't care from this moment on if I choose to ignore you?" L asked.

Light blinked in surprise and just stared at L for a moment before a smile crossed his lips. "Why would I care if you ignore me?" Light asked. "I hardly need you to entertain me or to talk to."

"Good, that is that then," L said, turning back to his papers.

It was weird that someone would say that to anyone. Weirder that someone would say that to Light, but he really didn't have to care. True he might regret losing another intellectual mind, someone who might be able to understand him without him having to tone down his way of thinking, but Light never pursued friendships with people, he just let people come to him and put up with them.

He turned his attention to the front of the room as the teacher began to talk, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he was a bit upset at how things had turned out. Oh well, he would get over it in a heartbeat and indeed, by the end of the class, he didn't even look at L as he gathered his books and left the classroom.

When Light got home he went immediately up to his room. Sayu was not home yet, she got home about an hour after him, for which he was thankful, he was brooding over the day's events in his mind and he wanted to be left alone. Misa insisted that they hang out earlier, so he wanted to get it out of the way before that happened. He lay down on his bed and just stared at his ceiling.

Something new had happened. Although he rather despised L Lawliet, he had to admit that the thought of a rival was invigorating. He actually had a reason to go to school if he had proper competition. But then L had gone and said he was going to ignore him. For how long? The rest of the year? Why did Light care? Well, one couldn't really have a good competition if the other side refused to acknowledge that he existed. He frowned to himself. Whatever, he didn't need to talk to L to beat him. He was just going to prove that he was smarter and that he was going to remain the top student.

He sighed and decided he would shower and get cleaned up before heading out to meet Misa.

**Silent Dagger: Yes there is a reason for everything mwahaha! Anyway, like I said, very different from my other DN stories, but I felt like writing something a bit more real but was too lazy to make up characters and then I figured that Death Note characters and all their pasts and whatnot would actually fit what I was trying to do really well anyway. **


	2. Chance Meeting

**Silent Dagger: Thanks for the reviews everyone, they were very encouraging As for who L was on the phone with, well, you'll find out soon enough.  
**

**Chapter Two: Chance Meeting**

Light looked himself over once in the mirror before he headed out. His school uniform had been replaced by a pair of light colored slacks and a red sweater. Far more casual than the suit and jacket, though still a bit dressy for a boy of his age. Still, it commanded respect and showed that he cared a lot about formality, his clothing reflected his personality. He ran an unneeded comb through his hair and then headed out. He was going to be meeting Misa at a small café. It was a popular place for people from their school, though most of them wouldn't be here on a Monday night.

He took the train to Aoyama where the café was located and when he got there he saw Misa was waiting for him already. She was wearing her usual attire as well. A black mini-skirt with white frills on the bottom and a black bustier covered over in zippers, chains and pockets. She had long, mesh finger-less gloves on and her usual array of necklaces around her neck, her boots ended in sharp heels and went up to her knees.

"Hello, Light!" she exclaimed happily, eyes shining at seeing him.

"Hello, Misa," he said.

She hooked her arm with his and led the way into the café. There were quite a few people here and he recognized a few faces from school. Misa frowned when she saw Kiyomi Takada among them. It was no secret that Misa hated the girl. She was beautiful and she was very smart, so Misa thought that Light would be interested in her. Truth be told, if Light had to choose between the two, he probably would prefer to date Kiyomi as she would at least be able to hold a more intellectual conversation than he could hope for from Misa.

"Let's sit over _here_," Misa pouted, dragging Light to the opposite end of the café.

He sighed. "All right, whatever you want," he said.

Her face lit up at that and he frowned inwardly. He really hoped that Misa would get interested in someone else. He just wasn't interested in her that way at all. He wished that Misa would show some of the affection Matsuda felt for her back to him. It was easy to see that their friend was head-over-heels for her. But she never looked at him twice so it was clear that she was all eyes for Light.

They sat at a small table by the window and Misa looked up at the menu written on the large board behind the serving counter. "Misa Misa wants hot chocolate!" she said. Light nodded. "All right," he said. One of the women working walked over to them and smiled warmly at them both.

"Hey sweeties, what can I get for ya?" she asked.

"One hot chocolate and one unsweetened tea, please," Light said.

"Ok, they'll be ready in a few moments," she replied, heading off to put the order in.

"Unsweetened tea? Light can be so _boring_," Misa teased him.

Light shrugged. "Sorry, sugar just isn't my thing," he said.

He paused when he heard a familiar voice not too far away. "Please leave a lot of room for sugar."

Light glanced over Misa's shoulder and saw him, L Lawliet, sitting at the next table by himself. He was seated in the most peculiar way Light had ever seen. His feet were on the edge of the chair, his knees drawn up to his chest and hands resting on his knees casually. He noticed that his shoes were on the floor, he feet bare and his toes rubbing together. He had opted to wear baggy jeans and a plain, baggy white tee shirt that hid his form completely. Could this guy get any weirder? Remembering the last thing L had said to him earlier that afternoon, Light frowned and turned his gaze back to Misa, but she had just noticed L.

"Light, isn't that the new student?" she asked softly.

"Yeah, and?" Light asked.

"Misa thinks we should invite him to join us," she said. Misa really was too nice for her own good sometimes. Though he was surprised at her offer, usually she cherished her time alone with him above all else.

He shrugged. "Why?" he asked.

Misa seemed stuck on that one. She shrugged. "Because um…he's new?"

Light sighed and looked out the window. "Do what you want," he said.

To his displeasure, Misa stood up and walked over to L. "Hello!" she said. "You're the transfer student, right? We go to the same school, want to sit with us?"

Light watched them from the corner of his eye to see L's reaction. He took one look at Misa, then at the table she was indicating, saw Light and then glanced back at Misa, shaking his head. "No, if I had wanted to join you, I would have, I came in after you," he said.

Light wasn't sure why L seemed to hate him so much, but it just meant that he felt justified in hating L's guts. Misa seemed put out by his rude answer and sort of just wandered back over to their table and sat down in a huff.

"Misa doesn't think she's going to like him," she whispered.

"Heh, I know I don't, he's rude," Light said, not really bothering to lower his voice. He thought he saw L smirk, but he didn't look up to really check. The waitress returned with their drinks and they thanked her and Misa took a sip of hot chocolate. "Yum, they make it perfectly here," she said.

Light smiled at her and took a sip of his tea. He stopped when he heard a strange 'plinking' noise and he couldn't help but look past Misa at L. The other boy was engaged in his drink and he was dropping sugar cube after sugar cube into it. Light counted six going in before he had to look away and spare his stomach from any unsettling feelings. No, forget about L, he was just some weirdo, he forced his gaze to remain on Misa and she noticed him staring at her and a faint blush crossed her features.

"Light is staring at Misa," she pointed out.

He cleared his throat and looked away and Misa pouted. They were quiet for a minute and then Misa's darkly painted nails circled the rim of her cup nervously.

"Light, there was a reason Misa asked to meet up with you tonight," she began softly.

Light frowned. He knew exactly where this was going.

"Misa knows that Light isn't interested in dating…but she feels the need to at least ask again, in case he changed his mind?"

Light pinched the bridge of his nose. "Listen, Misa…I like you, you're a good friend…I just don't think it would…work out," he said evasively.

"But Misa would be good for Light!" Misa exclaimed a bit loudly, other patrons were looking at them now.

"Misa, please keep your voice down," Light reminded her.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes and when she opened them they were swimming with tears and had an almost desperate look in them. "Please, Light? Couldn't we just try it?" she asked mournfully.

Light could feel many pairs of eyes watching them. Whatever he decided to do, he did not want to do it in here. He left money on the table and then stood up and offered her his hand. "Come on," he said softly. She suppressed a sniffle and took the offered hand and he pulled her to her feet and led her out of the café, keeping his hand around hers. Even though her multiple requests that they date grated on his nerves, he was not so heartless as to completely reject her.

Once they were outside, he led her to the side of the building and stopped, looking down at her. "You know I hate when you ask that in places like this," he said.

"Misa knows, Misa is sorry, she just can't help it," she said sheepishly.

"School is really important for me, Misa," Light began the same old lie.

"But Light is bored with school and isn't challenged at all," Misa complained.

"Yes, well, I have to keep sharp for college. You know I don't just do my studying at school, a lot of the time I am busy at home too," Light pointed out.

There was an awkward silence and Misa suddenly threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his neck. Light sighed and wrapped his arms loosely about her waist. He could feel her shoulders shuddering with disappointment. "Not now, Misa," he said for the hundredth time.

"Misa will ask at a better time then," Misa mumbled into his shirt.

She broke away from him and forced her bright smile on her face. "Misa knows how awkward Light feels after Misa asks, Misa should probably be getting home now anyway," she said with a wave, turning away from without waiting for a response and hurrying into the night.

Light did feel bad afterwards, but he was starting to lose sympathy. How many times was he going to have to tell her no? He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, deciding that he mine as well just head on home himself.

"Yagami must get that a lot."

Light started at the unwelcomed voice and turned to the doorway of the café. L was standing there nibbling at his thumb as though he were five. He narrowed his eyes. "I thought you were supposed to be ignoring me," he said coldly.

"That is during school," L said.

"Fine, you ignore me during school and I ignore you outside of school. That way we never have to talk," Light replied.

"If you are so torn up about something like this, why don't you just say yes to her?" L asked with a hint of a smirk on his pale face.

"I don't need your opinion on the matter," Light said, beginning to walk away. He heard footsteps following him and frowned as he realized L was walking with him. He stopped and turned around to glare at him. "Would you leave me alone?" he growled.

L blinked. "I need to catch a train, Yagami."

Light continued to glare at him as if he were making up a lie, but L simply shrugged and walked past him. Light considered waiting for a later train, but he really didn't like wasting time doing nothing so he reluctantly followed. Maybe L would be getting on a different train anyway? Or at least if fortune was on his side, he would be getting off as soon as possible.

The train pulled to a stop and they both got on. Light resolutely took the first seat and was infuriated when L sat right across the aisle from him. Why couldn't he have just kept going? It was like he had waited for Light to make his decision to reach one of his own. Light refused to look at him; he just stared out the dark window. The train began to move slowly and Light just wanted to get home and be alone.

"Hello?"

Light glared at L, thinking he was talking to him, but he was on the phone. He lofted a brow. Did this guy have to do everything abnormally? He had a flip phone and was holding the ear piece between thumb and forefinger, as if the phone could shock him at any moment. He was about to laugh at him, but L's face had gotten deadly serious.

"I am on my way home," L was saying. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

He hung up without another word and caught Light staring at him. "What?" he asked.

"Do you always hold things like that?" Light scoffed.

"Is it a problem, Yagami?"

"No, it's just weird."

"Then consider myself weird and stop pestering me."

L got up and moved to the back of the bus to get away from Light. Light felt utterly confused. At one moment L was pushing away, the next he seemed to be interested in talking to him and then once again he was pushing him away. Who was he to say Light was the one pestering him? Light didn't _pester_ anyone! He sat in a sullen silence, wishing that he had never laid eyes on L. Fine, then, this time for real…he would just put the irritating male out of his head and just ignore his existence.

* * *

Misa wasn't in school the next day but Light wasn't surprised. Every time he rejected her she took the next day off to compose herself. She would be back tomorrow perfectly fine. However, the others had figured out her routine and of course by the time lunch rolled around, Light was getting ready for them to say something.

"Misa shoots, and misses!" Mello exclaimed as soon as he sat down. "Rejected again!"

"Don't be unkind, Mello," Matsuda insisted.

"Ah shut up, Matsu," Mello said.

"So, where'd she spring the question this time?" Matt asked amusement in his eyes. "Somewhere public right?"

"Of course," Light said.

"What excuse did you give her this time?" the gamer continued.

"None of your business," Light snapped.

"Oy, oy…look!" Mello suddenly hissed.

They all turned to see what he was looking at. He was looking at Near but Near wasn't sitting by himself today. No, sitting across from him was none other than L. Near didn't even pay attention to the obvious stares, but L's black eyes shifted to Light for a moment and a ghost of a smirk lighted his features. Light wanted to storm out of the cafeteria, he knew exactly what the freak was doing.

It was all part of L's aversion to him. L figured out that Light would never be caught with Near. Light honestly didn't have a problem with the runt, but because of his social standing and the friends he had (all of them well known…the popular kids Light supposed though such trivial thoughts never crossed his mind) would never allow themselves to be associated with Near or anyone to do with Near. Therefore, unless Light wanted to deal with endless heckling by his friends, he really did have to disregard L entirely.

Well fine, he was planning on doing that anyway. But why was L going out of his way to pointedly ignore him? It was drawing Light's attention more. Why couldn't he just go about on his own business? Why did he always have to throw those irritatingly smug smirks at him?

"Near made a friend," Mello snickered. "They go so well together, cute little freaks all cozy with each other."

"Now, now, Mello," Matsuda said timidly. "Don't start such rumors."

"What that Near likes the boys? It wouldn't surprise me at all," Mello chortled.

"That's not something to make fun of," Matsuda frowned.

Light noticed an odd expression on Matt's face, but when the redhead felt Light's gaze on him he quickly smirked and leaned back in his chair, completely nonchalant about the entire argument. Light sighed. What was happening lately? Everything seemed to be getting annoyingly confusing. Light was never confused, oh well, he would be able to figure it out quickly enough when he put his mind to it, and he just didn't want to waste his time on it right now.

"What's your problem, Matsu? I thought you liked Misa, unless we were wrong the entire time, maybe you like Light here…the whole thing with Misa is an act, right? To get her out of the way," Mello laughed.

Matsuda went bright red. "W-What?! No of course not!" he exclaimed. "I really do like Misa…even if she doesn't like me…" he trailed off.

Mello opened his mouth but Light shook his head. "Drop it, Mello," he said coldly. Mello rolled his eyes, but he knew better than to really irritate Light and instead started talking to Matt instead. Matsuda was still blubbering and Light sighed. "Don't listen to her," he said.

Mello snapped, pounding the table with his fist. "Dammit, Yagami, don't call me a _her_!" he shrieked.

Light smirked, eyes narrowed slightly. "I'm sorry, but it's just so hard to remember sometimes with your nice full locks of hair framing your pretty little face," he taunted. Sometimes the only way to get back at Mello was to sink to his own level.

"I will kick your ass, Yagami," Mello growled.

Matt was roaring with laughter and Matsuda had a grateful smile on his face. Light shrugged casually. "Of course you will," he said sarcastically.

Mello frowned, made an exaggerated jump and pulled out his phone. "See you, bitches," he said, walking off to answer his phone, though Light had seen the face of it was dark, Mello was not getting a call, he was doing his typical walk away situation. Matt whistled and shook his head. "Nice one, Light, anyway, you know he's going to sulk for the rest of the week if none of us go after him, I'll see you both later," he said, also getting up.

Once he was gone, Matsuda sighed and Light glanced at him. It was awkward around Matsuda when they were alone. Here was this guy pining after the girl who was pining after him. Maybe he could somehow get Misa to consider Matsuda to at least get her off of his back.

"Excuse me," Light said, standing up. He made his way over to the bathroom, feeling the need to splash his face with cold water. He opened the door and froze. Since he had been pointedly ignoring L, he hadn't seen him get up and leave. Now the quirky student was standing in the bathroom, his shift lifted up and a pale finger prodding lightly at a large bruise over his ribs. That wasn't the only bruise either; his whole torso was black and blue. He caught Light's reflection in the mirror and hurriedly dropped his shirt. Neither of them said a word. Light's eyes were wide open in shock; L looked both angry and panicked.

"What--" Light began.

"Leave me alone," L ordered, walking towards him quickly and brushing past roughly.

Light almost grabbed him, but then he frowned. He didn't care. The idiot probably fell down the stairs of something. But passing that by so casually…Light knew that there could be a serious problem with L and he was just going to forget about it because he didn't like him? No, why should he be the one who had to be responsible for everything? He was not the leader of the school. As much as he might want to change things in this rotten world, he realized he lacked the power to do so right now. And yet, he wanted to follow his father's footsteps…what would his father do?

* * *

Soichiro sat down in his usual spot and Light sat down across from him. They had just eaten dinner and Light had mentioned that he wanted to discuss something privately with his father before he went to bed.

"What's troubling you, son?" Soichiro asked.

"I'm just wondering about a situation at school," Light replied. "Today I saw a kid in the bathroom with a lot of bruises all over his torso…I mean, he could have fallen or something, he didn't seem too concerned about it. I was just wondering if I would be justified in looking into the matter."

Soichiro was quiet for a moment. "Hmm, if it isn't something as simple as falling and is something serious than someone needs to know. Often times if someone is being abused they won't tell anyone for fear of being hurt worse, so it's up to someone else to stop it."

Light nodded. "Right," he said.

"Is it one of your friends, Light?" his father asked.

"No, it's a new student," Light answered.

"All right, well you keep me updated, won't you? After all, if it is something serious, I'll have to get involved," Soichiro said, stifling a yawn.

"I will, now go get some sleep, dad, you've been putting in a ridiculous amount of hours again," Light smiled.

Soichiro grinned and bid him good night and walked off to his bedroom. Light remained where he was, going over the previous incident in the bathroom. L's eyes had said enough. Something was going on with him, but he doubted that the stubborn idiot would ever tell him anything. Well then, Light was just going to have to forget about his loathing for the creepy bastard and find out what was going on.

**Silent Dagger: I know that it was rather short, but where the first chapter was an introduction this is sort of a prelude to the actual plot of the story. **


	3. First Attempt and a Revelation

**Silent Dagger: Weee thanks for the reviews everyone! I was having doubts about doing a story like this, but your encouragement has made me decide to keep going!**

**Chapter Three: The First Attempt and a Revelation**

It took Light a moment to realize why he was feeling so aggravated when he woke that next morning. Then it hit him. He was going to actually try to talk to L today, really talk to him. He had to find out what was going on with him because if it was truly something serious, then he had no choice but to inform his father and get L out of any dangerous situations. He could already imagine the sarcastic remarks he was going to get from the black haired boy, and he did not even want to imagine what Mello was going to say. Not that it would bother him, but he'd rather not have to make him run off again in a fit of temper and listen to reciprocations later.

He hardly noticed what he was doing as he got ready and he didn't even realize he had gotten on the train until it pulled to a stop at the proper station. Blinking, Light left and walked the rest of the way to school. He frowned inwardly. What was the big deal? Maybe L would just tell him the truth so he wouldn't bother him? Unlikely, but Light could hope. He honestly had no desires to do this, but he knew he was going to anyway.

The best thing to do would be to catch L before classes actually started, so Light took a different route than normal when crossing the school grounds in the hope of avoiding Misa or anyone else that he knew. Amber eyes flitted from person to person, group from group, looking for the quirky boy that seemed to so easily grate on his nerves. Finally his eyes landed on him, he still looked awkward in the school uniform, as if his body was unconsciously fighting against it. If the kid could learn to just stand up straight and make sure everything was on straight he might not stick out like a sore thumb.

"Lawliet," he said simply, quickening his stride to catch up to the other.

L stopped and looked at him. He narrowed his eyes in distrust. "What is it, Yagami?" he asked, his voice sounding as polite as Light's.

"You know what," Light said, he decided not to waste any time. "I'm here to ask you about those bruises on your body."

"My body should not interest you, Yagami," L replied.

Light felt a vein pulsing in his temple. "Listen, my father is the chief of police, I tend to follow his footsteps, I can't just let something like this slide by."

"Ah, so you are playing detective then?" L asked.

Light was more annoyed at the fact that the raven haired male's voice was so casual when his eyes were clearly accusing. L did not want to talk about this, and yet he was making it sound like it was nothing to be concerned about. Light sighed and ran a hand through his perfectly combed hair.

"I'm not 'playing' anything, Lawliet," he said. "I'm trying to make sure that…everything is okay."

Silence and then L shrugged. "Everything is fine," he said. "I just had a small accident is all. Do you honestly think that I would not report if anything bad had happened?" he asked, tilting his head.

"So you're saying you just fell or something," Light repeated.

"Not that I feel the need to indulge your curiosity about the state of my well being, but yes, I fell," L said, his tone indicating that he was bored with this conversation.

Light frowned. There was more to it. If there was one thing he was proud of, it was his ability to profile people psychologically and he could see in L's mannerisms that there was something bothering him. But L was his match when it came to setting up a façade. He couldn't break through those walls at all. L really did sound convincing and if he hadn't been talking to Light about it, then the person who had just heard L would be thoroughly convinced that nothing was amiss. It angered Light to no end to have someone his equal when all he was trying to do was help.

"Fine, so you're really a klutz and there is absolutely no need to be worried about your body despite the fact that it's black and blue all over," Light said.

"That just about sums it up, Yagami," L replied and Light could swear there was humor in that expression now, as if L had just sensed his victory over Light's attempt to break through his walls.

Light couldn't deal with looking at that odd face for another minute so he just stormed off and headed into the building. He was immediately assaulted by Misa, who practically tackled him upon seeing him, hugging him tightly and coming up with an excuse as to why she was not there yesterday. Feeling so frustrated at the moment, Light hardly spared her a glance and her eyes shone with hurt when he parted ways with her to get to class.

"You all right? You look pissed," Matt said as soon as Light sat down in History.

"I'm fine," Light lied.

"Bull shit," Matt chuckled. "I can tell when something really sets you off, you get this really scary expression on your face…kind of like the one you have right now."

Light frowned and looked over at Matt, who pretended to cringe away from him in fear before laughing again. Honestly, the redhead was useless in situations like these because he just didn't care enough to input anything of importance. Light suffered through his chuckles and narrowed his eyes when L entered the room. He suddenly wished that he didn't have any classes with the quirky student. He frowned more heavily when L noticed his stare and gave him a little wave.

Light decided to ignore him for the rest of the day.

* * *

"Awww Near's boyfriend ditched him."

Light looked up at Mello's sarcastic tone and then glanced towards the albino's table. Sure enough, Near was eating solo again. He shook his head and turned back to his meal. L was probably wandering around outside again or something like that. Nothing that he was going to be worried about. He didn't care about L at all. He had tried and L had told him his version of the truth. Why was it his responsibility to continue worrying about it? Why were his thoughts so focused on L anyway?

"Maybe something came up," Matsuda offered more as a way to get Mello to lay off than to encourage him, but the blond twisted the other's meaning once again.

"Only one way to find out," Mello scoffed. He stood up. "Oy, Whitey!"

Everyone in the cafeteria looked up at his raised voice, except for Near of course, who was currently engaged with a robot toy and was obviously too into his game to bother noticing Mello. Always hating to be ignored, Mello strode away from the table. Light sighed as he saw looks of glee on most of the other students' faces, people these days were honestly just…cruel.

"I'm talking to you," Mello growled, stopping at Near's table.

Black eyes finally shifted from the toy to stare up at Mello in a bored fashion. A pale finger was raised and began to play with a lock of snow white hair.

"Where's your boyfriend?" Mello asked.

"Seeing as how I have no boyfriend that question is impossible to answer," Near replied casually.

"Don't play dumb with me," Mello smirked. "You're raven-haired freak, where is he?"

"L?" Near asked. "I do not know. I believe he went home."

Near just wasn't rising to the bait as Mello wanted him to. It was clear that Mello wanted him to get defensive, to claim that L was _not_ his boyfriend, which would, in turn, give Mello more to work with.

"Mello is determined," Misa whispered.

"Mello is annoying," Light grumbled.

"He didn't invite you home with him?" Mello asked to some guffaws from the students around him.

Near tilted his head. "No, why would he? He is just an acquaintance that I spoke to once," he replied.

Mello frowned, getting agitated. "Whatever, you can try and hide whatever you want, but you'll never hide it from me."

"Why would you be so interested?" Near asked.

Mello just stared at him and then laughed. "It's not often you get to say you went to school with a runty little albino," he said, walking back towards his table.

"Ok, good plan Mello, but I have to say that you failed," Matt snickered as soon as the blond sat down. Mello proceeded to smack him in the shoulder, but the other was not phased. "Well come on, you totally didn't rile him up at all…look, he just went back to playing with his stupid robot."

"Yeah I bet he uses that stupid fucking robot for a sex toy," Mello sneered.

"Stop trying to be funny," Light sighed, massaging his temple. "Because you're not."

"Yeah!" Misa exclaimed instantly.

"Tell your parrot to put a lid on it, and I'm sorry that you're so offended that I made fun of Near," Mello grumbled. "Didn't realize you were so close."

"We're not, obviously, it's just your continual attempts at offending someone who doesn't care gets on my nerves because you keep going on and on and on about it," Light said. "It's like Near said…why are you so interested, hmm?"

"Don't run away," Matt said as soon as Mello tensed.

"I'm not running!" Mello snapped, smacking Matt again.

"Whatever, you're annoying, that's for sure," Light said, standing up and walking off. He heard Misa calling after him and was grateful when he heard Matsuda telling her to stay. He just didn't want to deal with them right now. He wasn't sure where he was going to go. There was still a lot of time left for the lunch period. He found his feet taking him upstairs and ended up in the library.

It was empty as he expected and so he crossed over to the large windows and looked out over the grounds. Right beyond them was the city, laid out before him. Everyone was busy with their lives. Light sighed suddenly. He would be glad to leave this behind. He was planning on entering To-oh University and as far as he knew, he was the only one. Mello could probably get in if he applied himself a bit more, though he tended to be lazy when it came to academics. Matt would probably do whatever Mello did. Misa would try to make it as a model, and Matsuda was planning on going to a state college due to finances.

"I didn't tell anyone."

The voice startled him and he turned quickly in its direction. It was coming from the center of the bookshelves. He recognized the voice. But, didn't Near say that L had gone home? Curious, Light made his way silently towards that voice.

"No one even knows about it," L was saying, he did not sound happy. There was a pause. "Why would I lie? Have you had any problems?" Another pause. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude," his voice was suddenly much weaker than Light had ever heard it. He stood at the end of the aisle and saw him.

L's back was turned to him, he was sitting in his weird little crouch. Folding his arms across his chest, Light leaned against the bookcase and just waited for L to feel his presence.

"But I like it here…"

Pause.

"I already said that I wouldn't."

Light blinked when he thought he heard a harsh laugh from the other end of the phone. Apparently whoever L was talking to had hung up for the other student dejectedly shut his phone and slipped it back into his pocket. He stood slowly, seeming to have all the weight on his shoulders and then he turned. It took him a moment to realize that Light was standing there and when he could grasp it, his dark eyes narrowed.

"Are you stalking me, Yagami?" he demanded.

"No, I heard you went home and my friends were irritating me so I came up here for some peace and quiet," Light answered truthfully. "But you sort of ruined the 'peace and quiet' part."

L narrowed his eyes. "Fine, I apologize for disturbing you, oh great Yagami," he said distastefully. "Since it is such a hassle, I will take my leave now."

"Who were you talking to?" Light asked, ignoring the sarcastic tones.

"That's none of your business," L replied.

"You didn't seem thrilled to be talking to whoever it was," Light continued.

"Please refrain from irritating me, Yagami," L sighed. "Who I was talking to is of no concern to you. I am not interested in whom you socialize with and so you should not take interest with the people I am associated with."

With that said, the peculiar student made to move past Light, but he wasn't going to just let him walk away. It wasn't real concern, well, some of it was, Light was not so cruel as to dismiss what could obviously be a real problem, but for the most part this had turned into a competition and Light hated to lose. The game was simple in its rules, for Light to win he had to get L to tell the truth, he lost if he failed in this task. So far L was ahead of him, but it would not be for long, Light was determined to even the odds.

His high competitiveness could explain what he did then. Without really thinking about it, Light stepped in front of L and placed his hand on the other boy's chest to push him against the bookcase. Without waiting for L to say anything nasty, Light placed his hands on either side of L's head, trapping him there. L's eyes darkened and he scowled heavily at Light.

"What do you think you are doing, Yagami?" he asked coldly.

"Keeping you from running away again," Light replied. "You're good at masking your emotions, Lawliet, even more so than I am…however, you've underestimated me. I don't believe that you just fell. Why are you protecting the person who did this?"

"…You're assuming too much," L said dismissively.

"No, I'm not," Light said firmly.

L sighed and shoved his hands in his pocket and looked away. Great, now he was just going to go for the silent treatment. Light would not be deterred.

"What happened to you, Lawliet?"

"I've already told you what happened," L pointed out.

"No, you've already told me a lie," Light growled.

Dark eyes suddenly trained on his amber ones, and for the first time Light saw real anger growing in them. As if he cared, this freak did not frighten him at all. Besides, all Light was trying to do was get to the bottom of this.

"I don't want to talk to you, Yagami, I've already expressed that," L whispered darkly.

"Well too bad," Light said.

"You are beginning to really irritate me, Yagami…"

"You've been doing that to me since day one, Lawliet. Just tell me what happened."

"No."

Light was about to shout at him but was suddenly interrupted by a very familiar voice. "Ahh, sorry for interrupting! I had no idea—sorry!"

Light blinked and glanced over to see Matsuda standing there, scratching at the back of his head, his cheeks dusted a light pink from a blush. He fidgeted awkwardly and Light had to take a moment to understand why he seemed so embarrassed. He frowned inwardly when he realized what this must have looked like to an outsider. L pressed up against a bookcase, with Light standing before him trapping him in; no doubt their expressions had been quite intense as well. Dammit, just what he needed.

Light dropped his hands to his side and took a step back from L. "You weren't interrupting anything," he said.

"Yagami is right, I am afraid I have rejected his advance," L said suddenly.

Light almost let his jaw drop and turned to glare at L who once again had a smug expression upon his face. "As if I would ever make a pass at you," he snapped.

L tilted his head to the side. "A pass at me? Yagami, I was merely speaking of your advance to nose about in my private affairs…what were you thinking about?" L asked sarcastically, but of course, seeing as how it was Matsuda there, the other would not have caught the sarcasm at all, which was evident by his widening eyes.

"I was thinking how great it would be to punch you in the face right now," Light growled.

"Umm…" Matsuda chimed in. "Guys? You really shouldn't fight in here."

L shrugged and just started walking away. Light took a few deep breaths to calm himself and then sighed heavily and looked at Matsuda. Matsuda had an apologetic smile on his face and was still scratching the back of his head, a sure sign that he was nervous about doing something wrong again.

"Relax," Light sighed.

"I'm really sorry, Light, I didn't think…that…well…" Matsuda trailed off lamely.

Light frowned at him. "I certainly hope you don't think that anything weird just happened between me and the freak," he said.

"Um..wh-what? No, of course not," Matsuda stammered.

"All I did was ask him about something, something that could be important and he wasn't telling me and I was just determined to have him tell me before he could slip off," Light explained.

"I believe you, Light," Matsuda said.

"Good, because the last thing I need is for those type of rumors to be spread around," He replied, shuddering slightly at the thought. It was not the thought of him being with another male that had him frowning in distaste (though he had never considered that possibility in the first place) rather it was just the idea of people thinking that he and _L_ had something that was so disturbing. It made him nauseas just thinking about it.

* * *

Matsuda told Light that the reason he'd been looking for him was to remind him of the time and fortunately he made it to class without being late, however, his mind wasn't in it today and the teacher had to prompt him to give an answer without Light just taking the class into his own hands as he normally did. Fortunately he did not see L for the rest of the day, but all that remained from their encounter was the harsh fact that he had failed. L won this round, but he was not going to give up yet.

At the end of the day, Light collected his things as usual and then started to head out of the school. When he reached the main doors he saw Misa waiting there and he sighed, hoping that Matsuda hadn't said anything. When she saw him, her face brightened and he was pleased at that, it meant that she was clueless about what had happened in the library.

"Hey Light!"

"Hello again, Misa," Light replied.

"What happened to you during lunch? Are you all right?" Misa asked.

Light shrugged. "Yeah, I just needed my own space, Misa."

Misa nodded. "Mello was annoying you, huh?"

"When does Mello _not_ annoy me?"

Misa giggled and shook her head. "Misa likes Mello even if he can be mean. Misa thinks that Light should maybe try harder to like him."

Light blinked and shook his head. "I think I've done a pretty good job, Misa, I put up with him, don't I?"

Misa seemed to be thinking about something to say as they continued walking, frowning to herself as she struggled to come up with the right decision. Light just waited patiently for it, knowing that it probably wasn't going to be anything important anyway.

"Light likes Matt, right?"

Light frowned, now feeling a little lost. "Sure, Matt has a head on his shoulders and doesn't pick fights with possibly the weakest kid in the school."

"Well, then…if Light likes Matt he should be nicer to Mello," Misa said quietly.

"I don't follow you."

"Matt likes Mello."

"Obviously, they're best friends," Light sighed.

"Matt really likes Mello…"

Light stopped in his tracks and looked at Misa, who was not meeting his gaze. Her hands were clasped behind her back and she was rocking on her heels as though waiting for him to yell at her. Everything came crashing down on him. The looks on Matt's face when Mello teased Near about being gay (whether the albino was or not, Light had no idea nor did he care), the way Matt was always the one who went after Mello when the blonde stormed away in a temper, the way Matt seemed to follow Mello into everything, even if it was something stupid that would obviously have consequences. Of course…that was the reason then, and Light felt stupid for not realizing it sooner.

"Are you sure?" he asked, continuing to walk once more.

"Misa is positive…Matt told her when she dragged him to the mall the other day," she replied.

"I take it I'm supposed to pretend not to know now," Light said.

Misa shook her head. "No, Matt said that if he wanted anyone else to know, it would be you."

"And he wants me to be nicer to Mello?"

"Yes, Matt doesn't like that his two best friends don't get along," Misa said. "He says that he feels like he'll eventually have to choose between you two…and he doesn't want to do that."

Light sighed and ran a hand through his hair impatiently. He really didn't want to get friendly with Mello, but at the same time he did consider Matt a good friend, so he didn't want to really push him away either. Light had never had the dilemma of having to choose between friends, simply because people came to him to seek his friendship most of the time so if one got mad and ignored him, it usually had no effect on him. But Matt, even if he had been one of those who had approached him, had become a real friend and Light knew that if he lost that, he would regret it.

"It won't be easy," he muttered.

"Misa will be happy too!"

"Fine, fine…I'll _try_ to be nicer to Mello, but if he gets on my nerves too much I'm not going to just sit by and say nothing," Light grumbled.

"Yay! Matt will be so grateful!"

"Yeah, but the fact remains that Mello is still oblivious," Light pointed out.

"Misa will work on that," the girl said with a crafty wink.

"Just don't push too hard, Misa," Light sighed, already thoroughly annoyed at this discussion. Light wasn't one who felt the need to talk about relationships as the ones he had had were bland and unexciting. Besides, he knew what Misa was like when it came to things like this. She was more likely to just blurt out the truth to Mello rather than be discreet about it.

* * *

When Light got home, he had to deny Sayu's request to watch a movie together and instead went up to his room. He sat down at his desk and stared rather moodily at his darkened computer screen. He was so used to the normal routine, and yet now it was being disrupted. A part of him rejoiced because of this, after all, had he not been bored? But at the same time he felt like he was shifting away from everything. And then there was L…Light was used to winning, to being the best, and yet this freak had beat him in everything they had done so far. He needed to devise a way to get L to tell him, to want to be able to tell him or else risk losing his pride.

He frowned when he recalled Matsuda's face when he had stumbled across them in the library. He felt his cheeks heat up slightly at the implications he had assumed. As if Light would ever…just the thought…he shuddered and got up, crossing the room to sit on his bed. He laced his fingers behind his head as he lay on his back, studying the pure white ceiling. He didn't want to think about L, already the weirdo dominated his mind far too much, instead he thought about Matt and Mello.

Honestly, the news didn't really shock him. The way the two hung around each other all the time gave him a clue that one liked the other. Mello was too busy trying to be funny and popular to really notice Matt's subtle hints at his true feelings, and Matt was so carefree that it was impossible to catch these hints unless you were really paying attention, which Mello was rarely doing. Light sighed. He knew that this news was going to be the hot topic of his and Misa's discussions, just because Misa would probably use it as an excuse to justify her crush on Light, saying something stupid that since those two were hitting it off, they should too.

Besides, Misa wasn't thinking about the whole issue. While they may support whatever Matt decided to do, the rest of the school would not. If it came out in the open that Matt had a crush on Mello, he would be subject to abuse by those ignorant enough to think that his feelings were 'gross and abnormal' as Light had once heard it described. Even if Matt and Mello should end up together, and the thought didn't bother Light, he knew it would bother everyone else. Not to mention, Light wasn't really one to be outspoken about things like this, he wasn't for it or against it, he just didn't care so if he was looked upon to defend Matt, he was not sure just how good a job he would do with that.

It was probably just where his thoughts were at the present time that made him recall what L had said to him earlier. _"My body should not interest you, Yagami."_ Light frowned heavily when he recalled that statement. Stupid, quirky little freak. How dare he presume something like that and twist his words to mean something entirely out of the question? But why did he keep thinking about it? His mind seemed to keep bringing him back to the possibility that he was so fervently denying. Feeling almost disgusted with himself, Light allowed such thoughts to enter unhindered and what flooded his mind was so overwhelmingly powerful that he quickly sat up and shut it out. No…definitely not, he would not let that happen. Ever. He would rather accept Misa's offer of dating her than considering L.

* * *

That night, Light had his first dream about L.

It felt real and for a moment it was as if wasn't a dream. Light slowly sat up and realized he was in a classroom, but no one else was in it. Curious, he stood up and walked out of the room. The halls were empty and quiet, the walls blurry and shifting, as though he could have walked right through them if he so chose. He had no determined destination, he was simply letting his feet take him where they were leading and he was soon climbing up the stairs to the second floor of the school.

He entered the library but it was almost impossible to tell it was the library, for most of it was blurred beyond recognition. There were only two bookcases that could be clearly made out, and even then it was the space between them, the familiar alley that was defined to perfection. Light continued walking and there he was. Surrounded by books, sitting in his weird crouch, holding the book in the ridiculous manner he saw during class, between thumb and forefinger. The boy was deeply engrossed in the novel he held and even when Light stopped right in front of him, he did not look up.

"Lawliet," Light's voice echoed through the room.

L looked up with those wide eyes of his. "Yagami," he replied, his voice sounding ethereal and soft.

That was the only dialogue Light would remember in the morning. What happened next was an image that he would firmly place out of his mind the moment he woke up for his dream self suddenly set upon L, pushing the precariously-set student the rest of the way to the floor, flat on his back while he straddled him swiftly. L did not protest, he just looked up at Light with eyes that looked aflame with passion. Light was leaning in closer and closer, his lips but an inch away from L's when his alarm clock cut blaringly through the dream.

Light's eyes snapped open. He was tangled in his blankets, a sure sign he'd been tossing in the night, which for him was a rarity, he usually slept soundly until morning. His brow was beaded with sweat and his breath was coming in gasps. He shivered slightly and placed a trembling hand over his eyes. What was happening to him? He stayed there for a few moments, not allowing himself to think, trying to compose himself.

Obviously it was a combination of spending a lot of time with L yesterday added to the knowledge he had learned about Matt. The two elements had combined within his dream and that had been the product. He nodded slowly to himself, assured for the time being that that is all it was. He climbed slowly out of bed and made his way to the bathroom to shower. He let the hot water wash over him, hoping it would wash over what had happened during the night.

_Just stay away from him today…Don't bother talking to him, obviously he's not going to tell you right away anyway, so why waste the time?_

With that in mind, Light was determined to avoid the freak completely.

* * *

"Yagami."

Light blinked. He had been on his way to lunch and glanced behind his shoulder to see L and Near heading towards the cafeteria as well.

"What, Lawliet?" Light asked, doing a tremendous job of keeping his head focused on the present time.

L lifted a thumb to his lips and Light had to fight off a frown. Those same lips he had been about to…no, he couldn't let it enter his mind.

"I was wondering if you would like to join me in a game of tennis after school today," L offered.

Light lofted an eyebrow and L continued. "I heard that you were the Junior Champion…I myself play tennis and thought it would be nice to have an equal match for once."

"I see," Light replied. "Very well then."

"There are stakes, Yagami," L said with a wry smile. "Should I win, you are not permitted to ask anymore personal questions…if you win, I shall answer them."

"That is fine, I will see you after school then, Lawliet," Light replied, turning away and heading over towards his table. He would win, he was determined to win. L may have played tennis, but Light was excellent at the sport. There was no way he would allow L to beat him, because if he did, since he had agreed to the terms, he would never have a chance of finding out what had really happened. He had a smug expression on his face when he took his seat, not even bothering to glance over to the table where L and Near sat.

"Near's boyfriend is joining him again," Mello sneered.

"Misa thinks that if they are really dating then they make a weird couple, but Misa doesn't care," the blond girl exclaimed, throwing a significant look at Matt, but he ignored her.

"If they're a couple, I'm going to have fun destroying them," Mello laughed harshly.

"Um…maybe you should just leave them alone?" Matsuda suggested.

"Shut your trap, Matsu," Mello groaned.

The usual arguments started up again, but this time they did not phase Light, he was just mentally preparing himself for the tennis match, the one that would decide whether he won or lost everything against L Lawliet.


	4. Battle on Two Fronts

**Silent Dagger: Sorry for the wait! Thanks for all the reviews guys, they really help! And now, you will see who wins the tennis match! Oh, probably a good thing to note that the point of view is going to change back and forth between Light and….well, you'll see. Hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter Four: Battle on Two Fronts**

Light was ready. He was confident in himself and his abilities. He had played tennis very well, there was not a soul at this school that could beat him. Besides, if he lost then that was it, pride would not allow him to go back on the agreement he had made with L and to lose would be a tremendous blow to said pride. Light did not lose. He refused to lose. So he spent the entire day thinking about the match and what sort of tactics he should use, remaining unusually quiet in his classes, hardly bothering to speak with his friends. They were not aware of what was going to happen after school and he'd rather keep it that way. Light did not want the added annoyance of hearing people cheering him on.

By the time lunch rolled around, he was still wrapped up in his thoughts and ignored Misa as she tried to engage his attention. Had he been paying attention he might have noticed that he was not the only one completely trapped in his thoughts. He would have noticed the absence of Matt's voice during the conversation and had he looked up to the redhead across from him, he would have seen that Matt was hardly paying attention either and was instead looking away from the group and lost in his own thoughts. But Light saw none of this and would not learn until later what it was that plagued Matt's thoughts.

He was heading back to class when he felt a pair of hands grab onto his arm and attempt to pull him to a stop. Light blinked and did indeed stop to look over at Misa, who for the first time looked somewhat aggravated with him.

"Misa has been trying to get Light's attention all day," she mumbled. "Misa wanted to talk to Light about Matt."

"Look, Misa, I have a lot on my mind right now," Light said dismissively. "Can't you tell me later?"

Misa opened her mouth to probably argue, but Light narrowed his eyes very slightly and she sighed and shrugged. "All right, if that is what Light would prefer," she said softly and walked away from him.

Light sighed, he would deal with that later. He would deal with everything later. He just needed to get through the rest of the day…though now that he had been interrupted in his thoughts he came to realize that he had yet to see L today. He frowned, if the other backed out then he would claim it his victory, but it would be an empty triumph. He wanted to prove himself, prove that he could beat L fairly. Well, he was sure L would show up, from what he knew about the other boy, he hated to lose as much as Light did.

After the day let out, Light did not take the usual path to catch the train. Instead he headed towards the gym where he had placed his tennis equipment that morning. He changed into shorts and a tee shirt and pulled the racket out of its bag before heading out to the courts. The courts were empty. Frowning, Light sat down on one of the cold, metal benches and waited.

Was L backing out? He had seemed so confident that he would walk away the winner of this game when it had been decided. So where was he then?

Light closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to banish the rising irritation he felt rising within him. He sat there for maybe fifteen minutes before he got up, deciding that L really had decided not to come. Maybe he was sick, Light hadn't seen him today after all, but that was highly disappointing. Light was ready to get this over and done with. He had a theory that if he knew about L he would no longer bother to think about him. Right now L remained a mystery and Light was used to solving mysteries, he never just gave up.

"Yagami."

Light almost jumped at the unexpected voice. He looked up and saw him walking towards the court. He was wearing baggy jeans and a white shirt, the same outfit he had seen him wearing that day they had ended up running into each other outside of school. Well that certainly added to the theory that he really just did not give a damn about his appearance.

"There you are, Lawliet, I thought that you weren't going to show," Light said smugly.

L shrugged. "I was delayed," was all he said. "Shall we get this game started?"

He was holding a racket and it was the first time Light saw him holding something properly instead of with his thumb and forefinger. Good, he was serious about it then. Light did wonder why he had been late and why he hadn't even been at school, just another reason he had to win this, so that he could ask him about it. He walked to one end of the court, tossing the ball to L. It would be good to see his potential early on and Light was fantastic at returning serves so he wasn't too worried.

Light got ready, eyes concentrated on the odd student at the other end of the court who was currently bouncing the ball against the ground. That pale hand wrapped around it and then tossed it into the air, and suddenly there was a blur and the ball was smacking right into Light's court and past him. He blinked. What…had that been? L had said he was good, but that had been a professional serve. The only person that he was aware of that could do that at this point was himself.

"So serious already, Lawliet?" Light asked as L pulled out a second ball to serve once more.

"I am always serious, Yagami. Fifteen love to me," he replied in his same monotonous tone. He did not even sound pleased with his early lead. Well that was fine, though Light would rather him feel confident so that he could defeat that as well.

* * *

"Did you talk to Light?"

"Misa tried to talk to Light but he seemed really preoccupied with something."

Matt sighed and ran a hand through his red locks before pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, removing one and lighting it before taking a long drag. He felt better after that though he was still distraught. "I was really hoping for some advice or something from him," he grumbled.

Misa patted Matt lightly on the arm and he sighed and shook his head, taking another long pull from the cigarette before even bothering to continue. "It's just…I don't know, I don't like feeling this way," he admitted reluctantly.

"Misa understands that Matt isn't very emotional," the blonde said, nodding.

"That's because I just take life with a certain aloofness and would have liked to keep it this way. I mean, come on, I finally get a crush on someone and it's one, a _guy_ and not just any guy, but my _best friend_," he groaned.

"Misa thinks that Matt shouldn't care about the fact that Mello is a guy!" Misa exclaimed.

"What about the whole best friend part? You know how much this could fuck things up? I'm mean, just look how Mello treats Near. Who knows if the runt is really gay but Mello bashes him for it," Matt pointed out.

Misa paused, a little deterred by that one apparently and Matt waited to see if she would come up with anything. He was grateful that Misa was here to talk to him, but she wasn't the quickest when it came to advice. She was too centered on just letting people know and he was slightly worried that she would end up telling Mello if he didn't. He sighed and leaned back. They were at Misa's place, sitting outside on the back stoop. He was leaned up against the side of her house and Misa was tapping her lip, trying to think of what to say.

"But Matt is Matt and Near is Near and Mello has never liked Near but has always liked Matt!"

Matt groaned and snuffed out the cigarette. "Oh come on, Misa," he said. "This isn't something trivial. How would you feel if your best friend suddenly said he had a crush on you?"

Misa's eyes brightened and she clasped her hands together. "Misa would be so happy!" she said.

Matt frowned. How had he forgotten that Misa considered Light her best friend? Of course she would be thrilled if Light suddenly asked her out though of course Matt knew that wasn't going to happen. Misa just wasn't the type for Light; he pictured his friend with someone like Takada.

"Misa," he sighed.

"Oh right," Misa said apologetically.

"I can't just _tell_ Mello, I mean…this is Mello. He's liable to explode over something like this. If I just come out and say it, I'll probably fuck up our friendship beyond repair or something…"

"But if you don't tell him…" Misa began.

"Look, I didn't say I wasn't going to tell him, it's just going to take a while," Matt said a bit snappishly. He shook his head and pulled his PSP from his pocket and turned it on. He needed to escape his head for a minute, or at least not be completely consumed in his thoughts.

"Misa will stand by Matt whenever he makes the decision to speak up!" Misa exclaimed.

Matt glanced up from the game to spare her a quick smile before turning back to the PSP. Misa waited for him, probably expecting him to say something, but he didn't and she sighed. The door opened behind them and Misa's mother appeared holding two sodas. "I thought you two might be thirsty," she said with a smile.

"Oooh thanks mom!" Misa smiled, taking the sodas.

"Thank you Amane-san," Matt replied.

"You two have fun, Matt you're welcome to stick around for dinner," the elder Amane said before heading back inside giving them a knowing nod.

As soon as the door closed, Matt snorted. "I think your mom got the wrong impression," he said.

"Eh?" Misa asked, oblivious.

Matt shook his head. "Nevermind."

* * *

Light had never been engaged in a tennis match like this. It was the first time he seriously had to try. At the moment, he had won two sets and L had won two. He needed the next two to be his victory in order to win completely. Light performed best when he was under pressure. It broke him out of the monotonous routine and made him strive for perfection and someone of Light's caliber seeking perfection was a sight to behold. His eye remained locked on the ball, his feet carried him quickly from one end of the court to the other and he returned L's strikes gracefully and effectually.

He returned a particularly hard serve and the ball landed in L's court and bounced away before the other student could return it. Light straightened and smiled. "That's three sets to two," he informed the other, though it was not needed, he knew L was keeping as close a mind on the score as he was. L straightened as well, holding what was apparently a stitch in his side. Looks like he was slowing down, well, that would work out nicely for Light.

"Do not brag until after you have won completely, Yagami," L said, tossing him the ball as it was his serve.

Light shrugged, fair enough. He tossed the ball into the air and struck it with all his might. If L managed to return that serve he was be surprised. The odd student went for it, but it bypassed his racket and collided with his chest. Light was about to offer an unsympathetic apology but to his dismay L grunted in pain and dropped his racket, clutching at his ribs and hunkering down into a ball as though in great pain. Light blinked and stood there, slightly shocked as the raven haired male took gasping breaths, normally pale face flushed.

"Are you…all right?" Light called.

L could only nod and Light could see by the tension in his jaw that he was clenching his mouth shut.

Sighing heavily, Light set his racket down and walked over to the other end of the court. He didn't think that he had hit the ball _that_ hard. He stopped in front of L and looked down at him.

"Where did I hit you?" he asked.

"Just…don't worry about it…Yagami," L muttered.

He stood upright slowly, wincing occasionally and rubbing at his ribs. Light narrowed his eyes. He couldn't have hurt him that badly, something must have been going on. Without speaking he reached out with his hand and grabbed the hem of L's white shirt and lifted it, ignoring L's protest. What he saw made his eyes widened. The bruising he had seen on the other boy was far worse today and his ribs were an ugly black and red color. It was easy to see that at least one of them was fractured if not completely broken.

"What is this?" Light demanded.

L swatted his hand away and pulled his shirt back into place roughly, black eyes glaring angrily at Light. "It is none of your business," he growled.

"Your ribs are busted," Light argued.

"You haven't won the match yet, Yagami, you have no right to ask me any questions," L retorted.

"You can't honestly expect to keep playing, do you know how much damage you could do to yourself?"

"I don't recall Yagami being a doctor."

"It's just common sense, Lawliet."

L bent over to retrieve his racket and fixed Light with a deadly look. "Return to your side of the court, Yagami, I refuse to tell you anything until after the match."

Light felt another surge of anger over L's stubbornness. What was he supposed to do? Go full out against an injured opponent? Light had wanted to win fair and square but now that he knew about L's condition it hardly felt like an even match even if the other had managed to keep up with him better than anyone else he had faced. Still, if it meant knowing what was going on and if it meant getting him help faster, than Light was willing to show some cruelty in order to see that happen.

"All right, fine," he said stiffly, walking back to his end of the court.

He waited until L was ready and then served again. Thankfully he did not hit L with the ball this time and it was even returned across the net but it was apparent that the recent blow to his already injured ribs had been costly to L's concentration and skill. Light managed to hit it into his court relatively quickly, though he got no satisfaction for his lead anymore.

He didn't even get satisfaction when the ball landed in L's court the final time signaling the end of the game. There was a moment of silence as L retrieved the ball and then they both headed away from the net and back towards the school. Light didn't say anything for a while, there were so many things he longed to ask about, but he could not bring himself to even open his mouth. He knew what he had to do. He had to get L to the hospital so that his ribs could be properly attended.

"We're going to the hospital," he finally declared.

"No, we are not," L replied stubbornly.

Light gave him an exasperated look. "I thought we had agreed that after the match--" he began.

"The terms were that you could ask what you wanted, not that you could dictate what I did with my time," L reminded him.

"All right, fine, why don't you want to go to the hospital?"

"Because I do not need to, this will heal in time," L said.

"Right, but it would heal a lot faster if you got it looked at properly."

"You're opinion means little to me, Yagami, you might as well keep it to yourself."

"How did you break your ribs?" Light asked, voice laced with irritation.

"An accident at home."

"And what was this accident?"

They had reached the front of the school by now and Light started when he heard a car horn beep loudly. L looked up to see the source of the beep and Light followed his gaze to a black car, English-made if he wasn't mistaken and then he focused his gaze back to L.

"That would be my ride, Yagami," L said.

"I'm not done asking questions," Light argued.

"Remember, you can't dictate my time, you will have many more opportunities to ask me questions later," L said, heading off towards the car.

Light stood rooted to the spot as L reached the car and opened the back door. The other student didn't even look at Light again, instead he just climbed in and the car drove off. Light didn't even get a chance to see who had picked L up. He sighed loudly, feeling frustrated and cheated and then made his way back home. What had happened to L? What sort of accident? It couldn't be something as simple as L falling, after watching him play tennis Light knew that L was not clumsy in the least despite his withdrawn features. He got onto the train with a dangerous scowl on his face. He had won but L was still proving very difficult to get through.

* * *

"Light, there you are!" Sayu exclaimed as soon as he walked through the door.

"Sorry I'm late, I was busy," Light replied.

Sayu shrugged. "I figured as much, but Misa and Matt are upstairs in your room. They've been waiting for you for about an hour and I couldn't even tell them where you were. You know you should really pay more attention to your friends, onii-chan."

Light held back another sigh. "Yeah, well thanks for showing them in, Sayu," was all he said.

He headed up the stairs and to his room. Light didn't really like people in his room when he was not there. It was his private space and though he wouldn't expect Matt to look around, he wouldn't say the same for Misa. He could just picture her searching through his things for a journal of some sort in the dire hope that he had written something positive about her. He almost sneered. As if he would keep something as juvenile as a journal.

"Hello, Light!" Misa exclaimed, launching herself at him the moment he walked through the door.

Light patted her on the back and smiled. "Hello, Misa," he said, he nodded towards the redhead who was sitting on his bed and playing his video game. "Hey Matt…so, what's up?"

"Well, Misa knew Light was preoccupied earlier and couldn't talk so I figured you would be set by now after you took care of whatever it was you needed to get finished," the blond explained.

"Oh," Light said, gently pushing Misa away and crossing the room to sit on his chair. "Was there something you both needed?"

Matt closed his game down and sighed. "It's about me and…Mello."

Light didn't let his expression change though if he had it probably would have fallen. Why would Matt want to talk to him about it? Light had never really been in a serious relationship, he had certainly never been in love. All his previous girlfriends had just been a façade to upkeep his social standing. Besides, he had no advice to offer Matt anyway. Light had never been attracted to another guy before and though he honestly didn't see much of a difference there was the fact that most of the people at their school did.

"What about you and Mello?" he asked.

"I don't know what to do about it," Matt admitted.

"Misa thinks he should just tell him!"

"He can't just blurt it out, Misa," Light interjected.

"That's what I've been telling her," Matt added sourly.

"Well if it was anyone but Mello I might agree with her," Light amended. "But he's too thick headed and irrational to just tell randomly."

Misa sat down on the edge of the bed and frowned at Light. "Light should be more sensitive when he's talking about Mello," she pointed out.

Matt shrugged. "I'm not asking Light to change how he feels about Mello, if the guy pisses him off, he pisses him off, not much I can do to change that," he said. He brought his hand to his pocket, frowned and brought it away, remembering that he could not very well smoke in Light's room.

Light sighed; he really didn't want to deal with this right now. "Well, if you really want my advice, I would have to say that you should just take things slowly. Give subtle hints about it, that sort of thing. Do not just blurt it out and if Mello starts to respond positively you have a good percent of being able to tell him without him flipping out."

Matt muttered something under his breath before standing up. "You're probably right," he said. "Thanks for that, I think I'm going to head room now. I need to get my thoughts in order."

Light nodded and Matt waved to him and Misa before walking out of the room. Light's amber eyes shifted to Misa, wondering what she could possibly want by lingering here. He hoped that she was not going to berate him with more drama and gossip about Matt and Mello. Although he wished for the best for his friend, it really wasn't his problem.

"You know, Misa sometimes wonders if she should have done what Light told Matt and kept her feelings to herself," she said, smiling though her eyes expressed sorrow. "Maybe Misa should have been more subtle with her Light."

Light frowned. Great, just what he wanted to deal with. "Listen, Misa…"

She shook her head. "Light doesn't have to tell Misa if she is right or wrong in guessing that, she just wanted to say it," Misa replied, cutting him off and standing up. She smiled brightly at Light. "Misa hopes everything turns out well for Matt and she will see Light tomorrow at school!"

Without waiting for him to answer her, Misa headed out of the door and Light just pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath to calm himself. Really, this was the problem with friends. He had his own things to worry about without having to deal with them laying their problems on him as well.

* * *

Unable to simply sit in his room any longer after the events of the day, Light grabbed his jacket and shrugged it onto his shoulders, informing his parents that he was going out to eat with his friends though he had no intention of telling any of them where he was going. They nodded and wished him a good time and Light left his house and just began to walk. He wasn't really hungry and it was the first time that he had ever needed to get outside of the house in order to clear his thoughts.

He kept thinking over and over about the tennis match, Matt's predicament, and Misa's ending words. If she had been subtle…Light probably wouldn't date her no matter what she did. She was beautiful, there was no denying that but Light wasn't exactly attracted just to a person's body, he was more interested in their mind. So the rumors were true that he would probably end up with someone more like Takada than Misa. Then there was Matt's issue. It was true that of his circle of friends he did enjoy Matt's company the most because he was level headed and knew when to keep his mouth shut. So he truly did hope that things would turn out for the best, but at the same time he didn't know how to deal with this version of Matt, quietly pining away for someone like Mello. As for L, he didn't even want to think about L right now. He had won and yet had learned nothing new from his rival. Why couldn't he just forget about it for now and accept that he would learn shortly? Was it because the other student was obviously in pain and that something serious could be going on at home? What was his home like anyway? Light tried to imagine L's parents and frowned, if L had turned out that way, what were his parents like?

"We've an odd coincidence of running into each other after school hours, Yagami."

Light looked up. He hadn't even been aware of where his feet were taking him and found that he was in the busier part of town. L was stepping away from a bakery with a small bag clutched between thumb and forefinger. His eyes narrowed. They certainly did seem to run into each other much more than Light would have liked.

"That we do," he said.

"You seem preoccupied."

"You seem unnaturally curious about me tonight," Light backfired.

L graced him with that sardonic smile and shrugged his slender shoulders. "Ah, I apologize if I offended you, Yagami," he said.

Light shook his head. "Whatever, Lawliet," he sighed. "What are you up to?"

"Who's curious about whom?" L asked innocently.

"I have a right to ask questions, that was what we agreed upon for that tennis match and I do recall winning," Light replied coldly.

"Oh yes, because I had forgotten that," L said sarcastically. He held up the bag. "I was just purchasing some sweets. Would Yagami like a donut?"

"…No, thank you," Light said slowly. As if he were in the mood for the sugary treat at this hour.

L shrugged and lowered the bag to his side again. "Well then, I suppose I'll see you at school, Yagami."

"You expecting your ride?" Light asked.

"No, you are just boring me right now."

"Oh well pardon me then," Light replied, rolling his eyes. "If you aren't waiting for your ride then I have a right to ask some more questions."

L just looked at him with those disconcerting black eyes and when it was clear that he was not going to say anything, Light decided to just go ahead.

"What happened to your ribs?"

"There was an accident at home," L repeated.

"What was the accident?"

"Too much force was used."

Light felt a pulse of anger at the vague answers. "Too much force used in what?" he demanded.

L was quiet for a long while and then looked up at the sky. "Too much force used in a strike, Yagami," he finally replied.

Light's eyes widened. "Are you being abused, Lawliet?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"I think I would be sure if I was being abused, Yagami," L sighed.

"Then why did you get hit?"

"…Training."

It was the first time Light had ever heard L hesitate in his answer and so he knew that the other boy was lying. He frowned. Apparently L had no intention of sticking to the deal they had made. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the other. "You're lying."

"Perhaps."

"You agreed to our terms, are you really going to back out of it now?" Light asked.

"What would you do if I decided that I was going to do exactly that?"

"I'd say you are a pathetic coward and a sore sport that lacks the courage of his convictions," Light replied.

"Well that sounds pretty serious, doesn't it?"

Light could tell that L really couldn't care less about what Light thought about him. He could threaten to let others know about it, but he had a feeling that wouldn't affect L either. He frowned. Damn freak, this would be a lot easier if he had any sense of keeping some sort of reputable social standing within the school. Then again in the time that he had been there, Light never saw him trying to make friends with anyone, the only person he seemed to talk to apart from Light was Near and he never appeared as grudging to talk to the albino as he did to Light.

"Would you answer Near if he asked you?"

"Near?"

"Nate."

"Oh, I see you have a nickname for people outside of your group as well, I wonder if I have one yet," he smirked. Seeing Light's impatience that the auburn-haired youth was not bothering to hide anymore he shook his head. "Nate has yet to ask me anything personal as you have done, Yagami and if he did he would probably accept that I wouldn't tell him anything."

"Why won't you just tell me?" Light snapped.

"Because I have no desire to," L replied, calm as ever.

"Who the hell hit you that hard if you were training? And what the hell were you training for?"

"It is growing late, Yagami."

L turned his back and made to walk away but Light was too irritated to just leave it at that so he reached out and grabbed the other's shoulder to turn him around. L hissed and buckled and Light immediately let go of him. L took a few steps away from him and massaged his shoulder gently.

"Must you always go about grabbing me?" he asked, his voice sounding angry.

Light didn't answer that question, instead he pointed to the shoulder L was caring for. "That a result of your 'training' as well?" he asked.

"Leave me alone, Yagami," L said coolly.

"No."

L's eyes widened and Light could tell he was expecting a different kind of rebuttal. Light glared at him. "I am not going to leave you alone until I am satisfied with my victory. You agreed to this, Lawliet, even if you don't answer me truthfully, I intend to carry out my rightful actions. You've no right to tell me to leave you alone, you lost our game."

"Well I have to get home," L said.

"Why? You miss your curfew you going to get hit again?"

A spark of anger flashed in L's eyes and suddenly his foot was smashing painfully into Light's jaw. Caught by surprise at the sudden attack, Light stumbled backwards and almost hit the pavement but managed to catch himself before that happened. He rubbed at his throbbing jaw angrily and glared at L, but the other student was already storming off into the dark. There was no way Light would let it be settled like that. He cursed under his breath and took off into the night, rushing towards L and as soon as he was close, he again grabbed L by the shoulder but this time he spun the smaller boy around and punched him right between the eyes.

L flinched but wasn't knocked back and retaliated by kicking Light in the stomach. Light buckled over but refused to let L win and so he punched L in the chin, knocking his head back. L stumbled back this time before gaining composure again and the two stood panting and glaring at each other.

"Leave it be, Yagami," L said softly, his voice sounding much more threatening than if he had shouted the words.

"Didn't I already tell you that I won't?"

"Your persistence is beginning to irritate me."

"As if I care about whether you're pissed off or not," Light smirked.

L seemed about to strike but then his black eyes suddenly focused on a spot behind Light's shoulder and he stopped mid-step and opened his mouth in what appeared to be an issue of warning. Light blinked and was about to turn around until he felt a powerful hand grab the back of his neck harshly. He grunted in pain, trying to see who was attacking him, but the hand held him in place and he couldn't turn enough to see.

"He has nothing to do with anything," L said. "It's just a trivial argument, we should just leave."

The hand retreated and Light turned to shout at his assailant but was met with a fist crashing painfully into his forehead. He was knocked right off his feet and landed harshly on the cold pavement. He felt slightly dazed, the two hits to his head had not been held back and this one had hurt even more than L's. Whoever had hit him was not afraid of hurting someone seriously. He thought he heard L murmur something and another voice just laugh and then the shuffling of feet as they moved away.

He didn't lay there for long until someone passed by and noticed him, running towards him. Light sat up with their help and looked up into the face of Kiyomi Takada. "Oh my goodness, are you all right?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," Light lied, rubbing the sore spot on his forehead.

"Did someone try to mug you? Are you missing anything?" she asked earnestly.

Light knew that his wallet was still safely tucked into his pocket so he shook his head. Kiyomi helped him to his feet and wrapped an arm about his waist after slinging his arm over her shoulders. He felt like a fool, being helped along by his classmate. "I could…call someone?" she suggested.

"It's fine, I'm just going to head home. My father is chief of police, I'll just let him know what happened," Light lied, as if he would publicize him embarrassment further.

"Can I at least walk you home?" Kiyomi sighed.

"No, I'll be all right," Light replied, removing himself from her and brushing off his shirt. He felt slightly dizzy but he knew he would easily make it back home. He was just concerned that his face would be bruised and tell the world that something had happened. He may have to consider taking the next day off. He started heading away from Kiyomi, focused on not stumbling in the least so she wouldn't continue offering assistance.

"Please take care of yourself, Light," she called after him, the reluctance in her tone making it clear that she was not happy about leaving him to his own devices. He waved to her dismissively and hoped that she did not open her mouth to any of her friends. She didn't seem like the type to gossip, but he never knew.

When he got home he mentioned not feeling very well and so escaped explaining his evening out with friends and just headed right upstairs to bed. He changed out of his clothes in a very subdued manner, his mind almost refusing to think about what had happened. It was only when he climbed under his covers and his eyes were fixed on the dark ceiling above him that his mind wandered back to what had just happened. The look on L's face, whoever had shown up was someone dangerous, whether he was dangerous to the other student or not he couldn't decide since he apparently was sticking up for him. But L's assurance that Light wasn't involved…what had that been about?

A painful throb afflicted his head and Light groaned, turning over onto his side. He would have to think about it in the morning, his injuries were making it too hard to think clearly.


End file.
